Adding to what my fellow librarian Candace said,
lots of grad students are new or almost new to the
game. I believe this was true of Jeff Johnson when he
went to Harvard. I know it was true of me when I went
to Tennessee. My first tournament in grad school was
my fifth intercollegiate tournament and my second
non-CBI tournament -- and for those not old enough to
remember, CBI Regionals was double-elimination back then.
Tennessee had sophomores who, by virtue of playing in two
or more circuit tournaments, had more matches of
experience than I did.
That's why UTC's eligibility
rules for "junior birds" and Division II are based on
experience, not on academic level.
(And someone refresh
my memory -- how old was Norm Gillespie of BYU when
he first took up the game?)